Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Introducing…Phil

Introducing"¦Phil

Well, the aiptasias are getting out of hand. The peppermint shrimp have been ineffective, other than being rather pricey fish food. You wouldn't think the royal grammas would be big enough to eat them, but they are and they do.

So, it's time to bring in the big gun-a file fish. I swung by the LFS, where they were unbagging new arrivals. They had a filefish still in its bag. I saved them the trouble, and brought him home.

Here's Phil, the new guy, doing his best impression of a leaf. These fish are sexable, so I may have to change it to Phyllis-we'll see.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Wait, but that species of filefish is native to Indonesia, not the caribbean. Is this a cheat species? Wouldn't Caribbean Berghia nudibranches be a better more native option?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

ichthyogeek, have you noticed that 99.9% of your posts to my thread call into question my methods? I have. It's insulting and it's getting old. I was hoping to return the favor, but I see you're not currently keeping an aquarium. Please, stop using my thread to show off your theoretical aquarium knowledge, and police someone else.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Sorry

Sorry

I thought about sending you a pm, but since you phrased it that way, I want to explain myself to the community/those who follow this thread.

Michael, I'm sorry. Without any advanced form of expression besides emoticons, I can't exactly show how I'm asking you questions. It's hard to convey the tone of voice when you're reading words on a computer screen. In my time here on RC, I've tried my best not to actively and intentionally negatively criticize any one person. Some of my comments could be read as that of some stuffy uppity person who has read everything and never touched a drop of water. But MOST (not the 99%) of them are me suggesting, commenting from practical experience with other things, and always with a tag along the lines of "not meaning to criticize." Yeah, my knowledge is predominantly theoretical with a little bit of practical. I read as much as I can so I can expand upon what I know, so that when I transition to more practical knowledge, I can build upon others' mistakes, and not repeat them. I have questions. You have, or are getting, answers that I want. Therefore, I want to expand my knowledge by asking you every question under the rainbow. Why this? Why that? Why, why, why? Did I ever intend to insult you? No. Am I trying to police you? Why would I, since, as you say, I just have theoretical aquarium knowledge. You have the (imo) more superior knowledge, since you're actually physically doing stuff. Experimental data trumps Theoretical data anyday.

When I have the time, I go through the newbie forum. I try to post on things I know about, like not keeping a lionfish or yellow tang in a 10 gallon. That's where I, as you call it, "show off", because what I say/ask is backed up by years of documented stories and data. With your thread, I ask questions, since I don't know the answer. Is there absolutely anything wrong with that?

Yeah, I want to know why X comes before Y. I want to know why A and B happen. I. question. everything. I question myself, and I question others, because I don't know everything, and want to know how others did it to get that knowledge.

Finally: I do keep a tank. It's a beautiful 55 gallon show tank with pairs of fish I plan to breed. But I'm in college, and can't afford to post a picture every week like you do, since I'm currently 5 states away from it, and it's being supported my automatic fish feeders and topoffs via my parents generosity. If/when I get my Banggai cardinalfish (the first pair of fish that will reach maturity in the tank) breeding this summer and post about it in the breeding section, please, question me. I like answering questions, since it forces me to answer.

Oh, and if you still want me to stop, just shoot me a pm to cease and desist or something. No need to crumb up this thread with 50 useless back and forths between two people.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Phil is a temp. I'm in a near desperate situation here, and I couldn't find out whether caribbean filefish eat aiptasias or not. He will go into the qt or back to the fish store, once his job is done. Having said that, he is a cool fish! Kind of similar to a sea horse, but without the need for a species tank. I love watching him change colors to match his immediate surroundings. Fascinating!

Let me go ahead and confess another crime, for any other Biotope Police lurking. I don't think the tiny strombus snails, that are critical to my system, are caribbean-specific either. They used to sell them at Indo-Pacific Sea Farms, so I suspect they're from Indonesia. My justification for having them, is that I would think there is a caribbean equivalent species, and for all I know, these are them. Most importantly, they are VERY effective at keeping my seagrass and macros free of micro algae. The key, besides their diet, is that they stay tiny enough to climb seagrass blades that are only millimeters wide. Plus, they are one of two snail species I know of that reproduce prolifically in aquariums.

So am I disqualified from Biotopistry? I don't know. This is my first biotope. I'm figuring it out as I go. As much as I'm trying to emulate nature, and also be biotope-correct, I also have to deal with the reality of keeping all this stuff in a big, plastic box.

 

[simonh]

That looks amazing. Totally different. It's nice to see someone trying something different and pushing the hobby forward. We're always dealing with the reality of trying to get things to work in a glass box and the solution may not be ideal but if it works then so what.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thank you, simonh! I appreciate the kind words. Please come again!

 

[taricha]

Tell me more about these magical tiny strombus.
I have one large strombus and between actively munching red cyano and scraping diatoms off of pebbles, it does more to keep my sandbed white than any other species I've ever had in my tank.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Picture a conch shrunk down to about a quarter inch in length. Now picture juveniles the size of pods, and every size in between. Their population explodes then regulates to match the food available. They can keep the most intricate, delicate macro spotless. They're like an army of nanobots constantly cleaning your tank.

They are pretty magical! If you ever come across some, get them! I stumbled across them at my LFS and I jumped on 'em! I think I bought about five. Now I have hundreds-seriously. Indo Pacific Sea Farms used to sell them, but I don't see them on their site (ipsf.com) any more. I've never seen them for sale since.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I had another thought on the tiny strombus snails. They're probably not for everyone. When their population explodes, it looks very natural, but they are everywhere. It may be too natural looking for some. If you keep a sterile cage kind of tank, you may not like the look of an army of snails.

I got used to it pretty quickly, when I saw what they could do. When I see a lot of them on the front glass, I know its time to clean it.

 

[sam.basye]

Do these snails of yours climb the walls or just sand bed dwellers?
I want pictures [emoji14]

 

[Michael Hoaster]

They go everywhere-rocks, roots, walls, sand, seagrass and macros.

For a pretty good pic, go back to page 65, post 1618. Fourth pic down, just left of the anemone, on the seagrass.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

After further observation, I'm going to go ahead and change Phil's name to Phyllis. She appears to be near full-grown, and has no bristles at the base of her tail. So far, she has shown no interest in aiptasia anemones, preferring instead to hunt benthic pods. I'm not terribly concerned at this juncture, because I just read a good article on these fish. The author had loads of experience with them, and he said it's typical that they ignore aiptasias at first, then, at about the two week mark, they "git after 'em". He also said about 10% of them never show interest in aiptasias. So, for now, I'm just enjoying watching her. I'm repeatedly amazed at how well this fish hides in plain site. Yesterday, I walked up to the tank and looked for her, and could not find her. Then I realized she was right at the front, not six inches from the glass! Her constantly changing camouflage and slow, drifting-like swimming motion are a huge contrast to the gaudy colors and frenetic action of the grammas and tang. I would highly recommend this fish to anyone that wishes they could keep a seahorse in their community tank. You get the same hovercraft-like swimming style and chameleon-like, independently moving eyes and color variations, without the tedious feeding regime. I would think it would be a great addition to a seahorse tank as well, especially if you've got aiptasias.

Mr Zippy has been soliciting for cleaning services-from just about everyone in the tank. He started, logically, with Mr Pederson, the cleaner shrimp, to no avail. This shrimp, so far, has proved to be an enigma. It has no interest in inhabiting an anemone, or performing cleaning services. He just wonders around the sand bed, eating detritus, which I guess is helpful, but not what I got him for. Next, he tried Spot, the anemone shrimp, to no avail. I don't think he's actually a cleaner, so he is excused. Zippy's latest attempt has been with the barnacle blennies! They're having none of it! One other curious behavior Zippy has adopted is to get between two squabbling grammas, like a referee, to "break it up". It's kind of ironic, given the way he swims around, forcing the grammas to get out of his way. Tangs are like spoiled rich girls. They always need to be the center of attention.

As for general tank conditions, the manatee grass continues to grow and multiply, which makes me very happy. Also, my two small shoal grass plants have begun multiplying as well. Shoal grass looks like a mini manatee grass, maxing out at less than a foot tall, and having flat blades, as apposed to tubular. For anyone wanting to try a seagrass, I recommend it. It doesn't need a tall tank or a deep sand bed.

I've been a little concerned with the caulerpa lately. Its growth has stagnated. I'm not sure if I removed too much, when I pulled out the giant overhanging mass a month or so ago. It could be that I've found the lower limit of sustainably growing biomass, in relation to the grazing action of the tang. But I don't think it's that. It looks different. It's darker and the round 'leaves' are smaller. I suspect my dosing regime. Between the new iron and iodine and vastly reduced biomass, I think it may be over dosed. I have suspended dosing for the last week or so, and plan to reset things with a water change this weekend.

Well this post has gotten rather long. But it's good to record this stuff, as this thread doubles as my tank journal.

Happy Springtime!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Got a few snaps in.

Full tank shot.

Phyllis is shy.

Into the seagrass…

Color adapting to surroundings, hunting.

Sponge growth is great! With the phytoplankton and sodium silicate additions, the sponges have responded well.

Seagrass growth is great! Notice also, the purple condylactis anemone has settled into a new spot. It looks very happy there.

Zippy's starting to look like a blue tang! He's changing almot daily.

 

[sam.basye]

Tank is looking good!

Have you considered some sort of supplemental lighting (I'm talking like the equivalence of a widely dispersed flashlight) for the right half of the tank. Not sure if it's just the FTS pic, but it looks rather dark. Or does the angled MH cast more light over there than what's shown?

Also, in pic 5, be wary of that white sponge/tunicate growth on the root.
I had this hitchhike on a zoa plug and it started smothering and killing off the zoa's. <--- something else you need, Caribbean zoa's lol

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Sam!

The full tank shot is fairly accurate. The light coverage is purposely asymetrical. I wanted a gradient of light levels, coming from a single point light source, like the sun. Plus I wanted a dimly lit area for sponges and possibly other nonphotosyntetic organisms. The fake root suggests a tree, that shades that area. It also simulates deeper water.

I'm cool with that sponge. The more the merrier. I'm stoked with all the hitchhiker sponges I have. I'm looking to add more. I'm too lazy to keep zoas' prolific growth under control. Plus those seem more like a reef tank kind of thing, which this is not.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

The first posted pic of Zippy, and still my favorite. Funny to note that 90% of the macro algae in the background has passed through his digestive system!

So, Zippy and the grammas have been with me for six months now. I remember that stressful day they arrived. Fifteen degrees, two feet of snow and drip-acclimating eight fish simultaneously. Intense!

Today, the harem still works, which to me, is a minor miracle, with two males. It's so freaking cool to have seven grammas in one tank!

Before I got the tang, I was concerned that my macro algae were too overgrown and outcompeting my seagrasses, for the nutrients I was dosing. I wanted to significantly reduce their biomass to remedy the situation. I thought it would be cool to bring in an herbivore to do the work for me. I also wanted to see if I could get a balance of consumption v growth. I know some of you were sorry to see a lot my macros gobbled up. They were pretty nice, but the seagrasses were much more important to me. And my tank layout wasn't really ideal for them. The left end was too bright, and the right end was too turbulent. So I traded in the biggest reds for store credit at my LFS, and left the fragments to their own devices.

Now, the situation is near ideal. I have much reduced macros and the seagrasses are growing like gangbusters! I especially like that I can see the bounding wall of my DSB planter again, after months of being buried under caulerpa.

So what's next? I'm still working on a deal to replace all my turtle grass with more manatee grass. My biggest concern is the disruption to the system that pulling out over 30 plants and their large roots will cause. I plan to do it, but I'm very nervous!

In the more immediate future, I'm going to try a red tree sponge, a purple gorgonian frag and a red gorgonian frag. I should have them by the end of the week. Depending on the size and shape of the sponge, I may frag it into multiple pieces. With the growth of my "test sponges", I'm pretty confident I can keep this sponge happy-provided it doesn't arrive DOA. I expect the photosynthetic purple gorgonian to do well too, given my success with a tan one for over a year. The biggest challenge will likely be the red gorgonian. It's not photosynthetic, so I will have to make sure it gets enough food. This should be doable with all the planktonic foods I add to the tank, plus there's plenty more on the market these days to try if needed.

I'd also like to thank you for reading! It's been a great experience to hear from you all, and share our knowledge and passion. I look forward to more!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm pretty good at this chore! It's important to be comfortable while observing the tank.

See Phyllis? Day eight and no interest in aiptasias yet. Come on, two week mark!

Zippy.

See the dark, purplish sponge? This popped up on dead coral skeleton-not live rock. So, it must have hitchhiked in on something else. I may try transferring a fragment to the fake root.

The tiny, bright yellow sponge is getting bigger. This could grow into a gorgeous specimen!

The anemone really seems to like it there. It may be the right combination of light, current and shelter.

The shoal grass is expanding over the wall. It's tempting to move it back, but I'm kinda curious to see where it goes.

Manatee grass, showing coralline algae.

 

[sam.basye]

Tank is looking great! Is that a little ball anemone in pic 7 on the right?
They are pretty neat, miniature little nems. I used to have one in my 2.5g and enjoyed feeding it pellets.

What is the color range Phyllis has been? Is it just different shades of brown or can it do colors as well like blending in with the grasses? Definitely cool.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, Sam!

No, it's not an anemone, it's some kind of caribbean single-polyp coral. It broke off one of the live rocks and I stuck it there. I wanted to see how it did in bright light, since the other ones are all on the dim end of the tank. I'm amazed how many of these guys are still around, with no intentional care.

Phyllis the filefish has a range of mottled grays and browns, when she is around rocks and fake wall/roots. When she goes into the seagrass, she gets a pale green color, somewhere between the color of the sand and grass. Look at pics 3 & 4, post 1634, above. She is a cool fish! I just hope she starts earning her keep soon.